The Leichhardt Highway is a major transport route in
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, Australia. It is a continuation northward from
Goondiwindi
Goondiwindi () is a rural town and locality in the Goondiwindi Region, Queensland, Australia. It is on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. In the , Goondiwindi had a population of 6,355 people.
Geography
Goondiwindi is on the MacInt ...
of the
Newell Highway
Newell Highway is a national highway in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It provides the major road link between southeastern Queensland and Victoria via central NSW and as such carries large amounts of freight. At in length, the Newell is th ...
, via a section of the
Cunningham Highway
The Cunningham Highway is a national highway located in south-eastern Queensland, Australia. The highway links the Darling Downs region with the urbanised outskirts of via Cunninghams Gap.
The Cunningham carries the National Highway 15 shie ...
.
[Queensland Government - Department of Transport and Main Roads - Maps]
/ref>
It runs northward from Goondiwindi for more than 600 kilometres until its termination at the Capricorn Highway
The Capricorn Highway is located in Central Queensland, Australia, and links the city of Rockhampton with western Queensland. The highway is long, and joins the Landsborough Highway at Barcaldine. Formerly National Route 66, Queensland began ...
near the small town of Westwood.
The highway is a state-controlled strategic road, except for the section concurrent with the Gore Highway
The Gore Highway is a highway running between Toowoomba and Goondiwindi in Queensland, Australia. Together with Goulburn Valley Highway and Newell Highway, it is a part of the National Highway's Melbourne-Brisbane link. It is signed as National ...
, which is a state-controlled part of the National Network
The National Network (or National Truck Network) is a network of approved state highways and interstates for commercial truck drivers in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States ...
.
History
It is named after Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
n explorer Ludwig Leichhardt
Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt (), known as Ludwig Leichhardt, (23 October 1813 – c. 1848) was a German explorer and naturalist, most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.Ken Eastwood,'Cold case: Leichhardt's dis ...
who travelled a route in the 19th Century that roughly parallels today's highway.
Upgrade
A project to replace the Banana Creek bridge, at a cost of $7.7 million, was completed in April 2022.
List of towns along the Leichhardt Highway
Travelling from south to north:
* Goondiwindi
Goondiwindi () is a rural town and locality in the Goondiwindi Region, Queensland, Australia. It is on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. In the , Goondiwindi had a population of 6,355 people.
Geography
Goondiwindi is on the MacInt ...
* Moonie
* Condamine
* Miles
* Guluguba
* Wandoan
Wandoan is a town and locality in the Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was formerly known as Juandah. It is on the Leichhardt Highway about halfway between Taroom and Miles and is the centre for the local cattle industry. In the ...
* Taroom
Taroom is a town in the Shire of Banana and locality split between the Shire of Banana and the Western Downs Region in Queensland, Australia. At the , Taroom had a population of 869 people.
Geography
The town is located on the Dawson River ...
* Theodore
Theodore may refer to:
Places
* Theodore, Alabama, United States
* Theodore, Australian Capital Territory
* Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia
* Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada
* Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Sask ...
* Banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
* Dululu
* Westwood
Major intersections
Gallery
File:Leichhardt Highway, looking south from Guluguba Cafe, Queensland, 2014.jpg, Leichhardt Highway, looking south from Guluguba Cafe, 2014
See also
* Highways in Australia
Highways in Australia are generally high capacity roads managed by state and territory government agencies, though Australia's federal government contributes funding for important links between capital cities and major regional centres. Prio ...
* List of highways in Queensland
Queensland, being the second largest (by area) state in Australia, is also the most decentralised. Hence the highways and roads cover most parts of the state unlike the sparsely populated Western Australia. Even Queensland's outback is well se ...
* List of highways numbered 85
References
{{Road infrastructure in Queensland
Highways in Queensland
Darling Downs
Central Queensland